SOUTH POINT, Hawaii (KITV) — A tourist in a rented Jeep drove straight off a cliff on the island of Hawaii and was rescued only because local spearfishers were camping in the area.
The crash was reported around 3:30 a.m. Sunday by two men who had been asleep at a campsite near the island’s southernmost point.
They were awakened when a Jeep plummeted off a 40-foot cliff and landed on its roof in the ocean’s rocky shallows. The driver reportedly climbed out through the passenger side, then fell into the water and was swept about 100 yards out to sea.
The witnesses helped him get back to shore, and he was taken to a hospital for examination and treatment of mild hypothermia, the Hawaii County Fire Department said.
The crash took place about a mile from a tourist destination known as the South Point Cliff Jump, where people can jump from the overhanging cliff into 20 feet of water and then climb back up on a ladder built into the cliffside. An unmaintained road runs within a few yards of the edge, and there is no barrier.
The Hawaii County Police Department told Island News that the man driving the Jeep is 27 years old and was visiting from Canada.
The vehicle was recovered from the ocean.
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